Silence Will Fall
FOR WETTY'S STORY CONTEST Prologue A black cat was giving birth, in faraway hills. Her green eyes were screwed shut desperately. A strange cat watched from nearby. His tortoiseshell-and-white fur gleamed in the light, and his eyes shone pale yellow. He watched the Nofurs as they took a few more steps, then the whole world shook, and became a blur. Time fragmented, rewriting itself frantically. The universe changed. There was a crack like thunder, which rumbled over the hills. In the midst of the chaos, the black cat stood still, the only thing not moving. Then, suddenly, the world was still, everything had changed, and the black cat disappeared. Four things happened at once. In RiverClan, in a nursery of reeds and moss, a tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes let out a wail as her belly convulsed. Mothwing, RiverClan's medicine cat, and her apprentice, Willowshine, crouched over the queen, soothing her. "That's it, Mosspelt, you're doing great. One already!" Mothwing purred, while Willowshine crouched over a limp, wet black bundle at the queen's paws and licked it rapidly. In WindClan, Sedgewhisker too was giving birth. Kestrelflight crouched over her, while her sister, Swallowtail, licked the small black kit who had just been born. In ShadowClan, Littlecloud and Flametail watched Ivytail closely, as a ginger kit joined the black one already lying on the floor of the nursery. In ThunderClan, Icecloud raised her head to peer at her two kits. Lionblaze was crouched over them almost as closely as she was. One was black, the other golden-brown. Chapter 1 Ashkit raised his head and peered at the world with bleery, sleepy eyes. His sister's face swam into view beside him, her golden pelt shining, her amber eyes gleaming. Ashkit had been named for his mother's uncle, Ashfur, a popular tom who had been cruelly murdered, and his sister, Goldenkit, had been named for Bramblestar's mother, the cat who had almost been their kin. "Are you coming, Ashkit?" Goldenkit asked, her amber eyes glaring crossly at him. "I've been waiting for hours." Ashkit scrambled to unsteady paws. He followed his sister out of the nursery, wondering briefly where his mother was. "Hi Ashkit, Goldenkit!" Cherrypaw's cheerful purr sounded from behind Ashkit, and he spun around so fast he fell over. Cherrypaw stifled a purr. Her brother, Molepaw, who was lying beside her in the sun, purred too. "Is this your first time out of the nursery?" he asked. Ashkit nodded, clambering back to his feet. "Cherrypaw, come here, I need you!" Jayfeather's grumpy meow sounded from the medicine den, and Cherrypaw leapt up. "I better not keep him waiting." she mewed hurriedly, then dashed towards her mentor where he sat outside the medicine cat's den. Lionblaze padded over to his son and daughter, flicking his tail over Ashkit's pelt. "Glad to see you two have emerged at last." he purred proudly. Ashkit's pelt burned with pride, and he sat up straighter. He knew that his father was Clan deputy, and wanted to show him off to the other cats. Goldenkit squirmed away from Lionblaze. She looked a lot like her father, and had a similar brave and independent personality. Ashkit looked different from both his parents. In fact, his long, fluffy black fur and green eyes looked nothing like any other cat in ThunderClan. Ashkit didn't mind looking different, so long as his fur kept him warm. "Ashkit, come and play with me!" Goldenkit meowed crossly. "Don't just stand there." Lionblaze purred, said goodbye, and padded off to take Dovepaw out hunting. Ashkit was jealous of Dovepaw. She was an apprentice, and she was fussed over and payed a lot of attention to by Lionblaze and Jayfeather, and she was Lionblaze's apprentice, and everyone knew he was the best cat in the Clan. "Ashkit, are you coming or not?" Goldenkit asked. She bounded over to her brother and shoved him with her paw. "Come on, you sleepy-head! You're like a hibernating hedgehog!" Ashkit shook his head, shaking away his thoughts like water from his pelt. "Who's a hedgehog?" he asked, purring. Goldenkit squeaked and bounded away, her brother rushing after her. Chapter 2 Mistkit pounced on her brother Thrushkit's tail. He leapt around, squealing. Mistkit rolled her eyes. Thrushkit was a wimp. He never wanted to play anything, spending all of his time hiding beside Ivytail, their mother. Mistkit and Talonkit, her other brother, were always teasing him. Now, Thrushkit was bounding over to Ivytail, his mother, and hudling beside her. He turned his face away from Mistkit and Talonkit, like he was afraid to meet their eyes. Talonkit snorted loudly, annoyed, and squeezed out of the small entrance to the ShadowClan nursery. Mistkit followed him, wondering what he was going to do. Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Epilogue Category:Wetty's Writing Contest